Escaping Reality
by Concealed Eminence
Summary: If you could leave it all behind.. would you? Jack Willows is just starting his freshman year in High School. He has always been a fan of books, but when one certain book transports him into a forest, how will he react to this story? Chapter 3 up! R&R!
1. PART I, Chapter 1

**[Author's Note: Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted in this book from the Bionicle universe. All places, people, and themes relating to Bionicle, are owned by Lego.**

Alright. Ha-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cha! New story ftw! This one is a remake of my old OLD OLD fanfiction about Bionicle that I made in oh about 5th grade. Yeeeaaaap. Should be interesting. =D

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**PART I: ESCAPEMENT**

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**Chapter 1**

Jack Willows was at least 14 years of age. He was just starting his freshman year at the Quilcene High School in Washington, of the United States of America on the Planet of Earth. He led a normal, peaceful life. Of course, it has been known that things will always change. Jack lived in a small house just on the outskirts of a small, unknown town called Brinnon. Brinnon was an exceptionally small, and mostly poor, town. However, Jack had always considered his life to be as rich as any celebrity. He had good friends at school, despite the quality of the town, and an amazing home life. He and his parents were normally on good terms and he didn't always hate his little sister…for the most part.

Jack Willows was fairly athletic, but he was never one for sports. No, his passion was unlike most of the people he knew. His passion was books. Any book: From Harry Potter, to the Tombs of King Solomon's mine. They all fascinated and astounded him, especially how some adventures could travel so far, and so quick, and in such little time, it seemed that the excitement was over and he would move onto a new book. His teachers thought it a good, but extremely distracting hobby as he rarely did his work in class, just so he can use the time and uncanny silence he was unable to find at home to delve into the book.

Jack had always wanted one of these adventures, but with all of these different responsibilities that came with being a high school student, the fantasies that seemed so vivid and real in his younger years were beginning to fade into nothing more than fiction, for what happens in most story books is exaggerated and could never happen in the real world. However, Jack still clung on to a secret hope that such a thing was possible. That such a thing could just maybe happen to him.

The day was a Thursday. Jack was slightly pumped up from just hopping off the bus from an exciting assembly that had been wonderfully dramatic and very festive for the upcoming Harvest season, also known as Halloween. Even more wonderful was that tomorrow, Friday, was only a half day of school. Thus, bringing more weekend time which was always fun! Jack jumped up through his door-way and, waving a hello to his mother in the kitchen, went straight to his bedroom.

The bedroom was of medium size, a wall popping out not three feet from the door that enabled the closet to be in the room. On the farthest wall of the square-ish room was Jacks messy bed. He stooped over, after tossing his school bag to the ground, and picked up some dirty clothes from the floor and tossed it into the jumble of both dirty and clean clothes that was stuffed in his laundry basket. He figured he would sort them later.

He, instead, kneeled down to his bag and opened up the largest pocket, and shuffled through the binders and notebooks to pull out a black bound book. The silver writing on the cover said 'Breaking Dawn,' as it was the fourth book in the Twilight Series. He had just gotten it this morning and was already on the seventh chapter. It was entitled '7. Unexpected' on page 118. He eagerly opened it to continue the exciting tale of Edward, Bella, and the Cullen family.

After about 30 minutes of reading the large chapter, he finally set it down, letting out an excited sigh as he turned to open Part 2 of the three-part book. He decided to give himself a break from the excitement, and looked around the room. He looked around, and then looked to his bookcase. It was five shelves high, the top two shelves being random papers and other such stuff that Jack was too lazy to put away. The last three were neatly stacked with Jack's books. However…

He stood up and walked swiftly to the opposite side of the room, being careful to set 'Breaking Dawn' down so he wouldn't lose his place, and went to examine the strange, sparkling tome that he hadn't ever seen before that had suddenly appeared on his top shelf. He pulled it out, to find it was extremely thin. Not even a hundred pages, he estimated. He looked at it, and noticed that the cover was empty, save for a strange and unusual symbol.

There were two lines, forming some sort of rippling oval, though they were two different segments, one on each side. Inside this strange shape, were three vertical dots, all ovals and the middle was slightly larger than the other two. He stared at it, pondering. Finally, he opened the thick, hard-back cover. He looked at the first page.

**_THE_**

**_BIONICLE CHRONICLES  
Part 1;_**

The letters were a beautiful amethyst color, and they were written in the most stunning calligraphy that Jack had ever seen. He picked up the page to turn it, and found that it was written on a thick, creamy colored parchment. The more he looked, the more curious he became. The next page was blank. The next page had the same sort of calligraphy, but this time in a black ink. The top of the page said:

_PROLOGUE  
_

"Hm," he said to himself, turning the page. It was blank as well. He picked up a large amount of the paper in the book and flipped through it. It was all, surprisingly, blank. He pondered that over as he turned back to the page entitled 'Prologue.' The calligraphy was hard to get used to, as Jack was used to the normal font of the other books he read. He pondered over this for a moment and continued his read. The beginning was simple, and it seemed fairly a short read, since it reached to the end of the page. He looked down, almost feeling guilty about beginning this new book, since he was reading three others already, but he was still curious.

_In the Time, before Time, the Great Spirit descended from the heavens, carrying we, the ones called the Matoran, to this paradise…_

As Jack began to read, he noticed something strange move on his wall, just out of the corner of his eye. When he looked up, everything was fine. He looked around a bit to see if he missed something, but everything was fine. He pondered that for a second, before he picked up where he left off.

_We were separate, and without purpose, so the Great Spirit illuminated us, with the three virtues: Unity, Duty, and Destiny!_

It happened again! Something moved. Although, Jack could have sworn it looked like a large glob of paint dripping from his all. It was so strange for every time he tried to look at it, it would disappear.

'I wonder if I just keep reading…' he thought, not bothering to finish the thought he already knew the conclusion to.

_…We embraced these gifts, and in gratitude, we named our Island home, Mata-Nui, after the Great Spirit himself. But, our happiness was not to last, for Mata-Nui's brother, the Makuta, was jealous of these honours and betrayed him;_

This time, it continued again, just as Jack had guessed. However, Jack tried his hardest to just keep reading, and not look at it. He did notice, however, that it became more frequent around him. Soon, it looked like his bookcase was melting! He concentrated on it through his peripheral vision, keeping the utmost control in not looking up from this book.

_Casting a spell over Mata-Nui, into a deep slumber._

Jack kept his concentration on the book, but it was still so amazingly strange. He had never experienced this before, and it caused his heart to pound. Fear slowly began to take over when he saw the slightest bit of green leak through the suddenly melting walls. His panic was even heightened when he felt as if his floor was breaking underneath him. He did keep reading however, bound with curiosity.

_The Makuta was free to unleash his shadows…and unleash them…_

It wouldn't stop! He was at the last line, reading, but there was something strange…a light, floating feeling as he kept reading.

_…he did._

And he was falling. Panic over took him as he dropped the book, and the feeling of his gut being left up above him as he fell. Above him was blue sky, the most vivid blue sky he had ever seen, but it was not the normal cloudy gray sky of his home town. He was in a forest, he knew this much as he was being whipped painfully with leaves as he fell. He realized he was falling, his body vertical, his arms and legs sprawling out to catch something, but with no luck.

He was in a clearing, or at least falling to a clearing. Below him, was ground. Hard, painful ground. He opened his mouth to let out a scream, but panic kept him from anything of the sort. The ground was coming closer, closer, and closer.

At the moment, he had no idea where he was, or how he got here. All he knew is that he opened that book, began to read, and now…

…Now, he was falling through a forest.


	2. PART I, Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'How did I get here?' Jack Willows thought silently as his panicked hands and legs reached desperately at the branches and leaves scraping against his skin. Barely a scream was now coming from his mouth as he concentrated on not hitting the ground – not that it was doing any good. His eyes whirled around as he saw the ground coming closer. How long had he fallen? How far??

"Wind-fly!" a shrill call seemed come out of nowhere, when suddenly Jack realized there was an arm around his stomach and he was no longer going vertical, but horizontal. He saw the ground fly past him and he could do nothing but look, astonished, down below him. There was another sensation of dropping, and he felt the figure holding him drop lightly to the ground. Jack fell, dizzy, to a sitting position on the ground, too stunned to really speak.

He looked directly ahead of him. There were a pair of legs, it looked like. They…were legs, right? They looked strange. Like a skeleton, but they were green. If it weren't for the fact that the legs weren't right in front of him Jack probably wouldn't have even realized they were there. Suddenly, the legs bent down, into a crouching position, and the creature's head was at Jack's eye-level, staring at him.

Jack shouted, and jumped back, scrambling backward at the face before him. It was un-human, it was mechanical. Sleek, smooth, and also green. It looked to be like a mask of some sort, with lime green eyes, that were glowing like the moon on a clear night, were staring at Jack curiously. Jack tried to stand on weary legs, leaning against a tree. His legs were shaking so hard that he could hardly stay up-right. The creature, Jack saw had the body almost like a human. The thing's hands were on his hips, and there was an ax attached to his back. He stared, almost curiously, at Jack, as if the creature was trying to decide how to approach this.

"You should be more wary-careful, traveler." The creature, straightening, said in a high sounding, cheery voice. "The jungle-brush of Le-wahi is not a place for the faint-dull of heart."

It took a moment for Jack to understand what the creature had said. Though Jack's mouth opened in response, nothing seemed to come out of his mouth. The creature looked at him still, when Jack finally was able to stutter out, 'Who are you?!'

The creature almost laughed. There was a strange, mechanical grin on his face as he began to speak in the almost annoyingly cheery voice, "A strange day it is when a fellow toa-hero asks another toa-hero his name-title! I am Lewa, Toa-Hero of Air-Breeze and Wind-fly!!"

Jack stared, still confused. What did he mean fellow Toa-hero? Last Jack checked he was nothing like this creature! Or, so he thought. He reached his hand up to scratch his head, and as he brought to down, he jumped in surprise. It was exactly the same as the creature hovering over him…except for color. Jack looked down to the rest of his body, do find it somehow bionic as well. His body was a dark purplish color, as were his hands and feet. Is legs and arms however, were a tannish color. He looked to the creature, 'Lewa' is what he called himself.

"Where…am I?" Jack asked, almost dazed by what he's been through. His new question sent Lewa into a state of confusion, however.

"The island-home of Mata-Nui, of course." Lewa responded, this time less cheerful. "Where are you from, toa-stranger?"

"Brinnon." Jack responded quickly. He pushed up from the tree he was leaning on. His legs were too numb to feel the shaking, anyway. "…in Washington?"

Lewa obviously didn't recognize either of those names, which bothered Jack even more. He stared at the Toa, realizing that when standing at full height, he was at eye-level with the green figure. Jack looked worried, and he looked around the forest. It looked nothing like home…"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore…" he mumbled absentmindedly.

Talking to himself had always been a habit of Jack's. He would mumble out random things when he was doing things, as if he was explaining something to himself. Soon enough, he looked over to Lewa. "Is there anyone that I can talk to? Someone who—" before Jack could finish his sentence, he heard a loud rustling in the woods a few feet away.

Jack jumped over when the sound of a fire was suddenly loud and crackling. There was also a very loud grunt and a strange swear word that Jack had never heard before as he saw a long strip of fire hack through the forest underbrush, singeing them. The new arrival was red, and orange, much like Lewa, except for the fact that mask was different. He looked angry, especially at the foliage around him. Jack stared wide-eyed, backing up and hitting a tree, looking wide-eyed and scared.

"Lewa, what—are you doing way—ungh! Out here?!" The red figure nearly shouted as he came forward.

"Greetings, brother Tahu." Lewa replied, "I found-caught this stranger."

Tahu, turned his eyes on Jack for the first time, who flinched suddenly. Tahu looked stunned for only a moment, before turning to Lewa, and then back to Jack. "Who are you!" he barked.

"Jack!" Jack said, almost a little too loud and very nervously.

Tahu stared at Jack for what seemed like a lifetime, before turning quickly to Lewa. "Turaga Vakama had a vision." He said, looking to Lewa, who was surprised. "He said, actually, something like this. A new Toa, apparently."—he eyed Jack suspiciously as he spoke—"But the vision wasn't clear. I think we should hold a meeting."

Lewa glanced back and forth between Tahu and Jack. "I think we should take-bring this one to Turaga Vakama." Apparently Lewa didn't hear Jack shout out his name. Tahu stared at Lewa for a moment, before nodding.

"Good idea." He said, "Want me to take him?"

Jack suddenly was jerked with fear. He'd much rather stay with Lewa then with Tahu! Tahu was scary! Lewa, at least, was nice…mostly. Jack was still numb, he realized however. He hadn't the slightest clue of where he was or how he got here, let alone how to get back! And he wanted back more then anything, really. He actually was hoping this was a dream. At least until he began slapping his arm to see if he would wake up. He even tried pinching himself and blinking. Neither of which worked, however.

Lewa agreed with Tahu. "I will check back with you in a couple day-suns." Lewa responded. He looked to Jack, "Go with Tahu to Ta-koro. It is a fiery-warm place but a safe-village."

Jack could only nod as he tried to step off the tree he was leaning on. Tahu motioned for him to come forward and Jack complied, walking forward…


	3. PART I, Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jack Willows, once a human, was now a bio-mechanical…thing. It was beyond strange, when Jack went over the events in his head, and even more frightening that he truly realized he wasn't anywhere near his home. Probably on a different planet entirely, he thought. The long trip lasted nearly a day of silence with Tahu. The red creature was silent and very rude, it seemed, especially when he was using his single flaming sword to chop down brush, which created a smoking remnant. By now, the fire sword that would arbitrarily ignite and burn things made Jack jump in surprise, but he had grown accustomed to it, and was by now used to it being a common event.

The silence was deafening, for lack of a better term. The walking was tiring, and the fact that Jack's mind was in a constant state of shock wasn't helping either. It had been nearly a day since he left Lewa back in the forest. He had crossed over, past the edge of the forest into a small field, which he marveled at the beauty of it. It was large, at least a few kilometers, and the sky was the most dazzling blue color Jack had ever imagined. Everything was so vivid and bright that he had stopped to stare. Tahu had to turn back and get Jack to move.

After that, Jack and Tahu had ended up wandering into a small rocky terrain. The ground was gray, and lifeless. It was almost desolate, so that Jack had become almost saddened at the seemingly hopelessness of the area.

"How much farther?" Jack asked tentatively to his red escort. The large creature was fairly intimidating, even though he was at the same eye-level as Jack, which possibly made Jack feel all the more nervous at the approach.

"A few more miles." Tahu said, almost in a mumble.

"Um…" Jack continued, "I've just realized…where exactly are we going? I was never really told other than a name, and I'm still unsure of—"

"Ta-koro." Tahu interrupted. He was visibly rolling his eyes in annoyance at Jack's nervous ramblings. "It's my village."

There was a pause. "Oh." Jack replied. He blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed at his over-excessive talking. He was silent for the rest of the way, his mind still racing. He felt strange…more energetic? He knew he wasn't very tired, which was strange because by now he would be more then tired. He sighed as he looked around. Rock as far as the eye can see…nothing but rock.

However, there was something! Jack squinted his eyes to see ahead. It looked like…trees. Dead trees. Tahu said nothing as they kept walking. No surprise there, Jack thought. After a few minutes, there was the softest sound of waves splashing against the shore, which made Jack think they were nearing a beach. However, he saw large gates ahead, and coming up on his side were the dead trees. They were black like coal, and charred; all dead, and burned to a crisp. The sight of it brought a small feeling of sadness into Jack as he looked, but he tried to ignore it and keep walking.

As Tahu came up, two short creatures, which he called Matoran later on, saluted and one ran into the gate and turned into a small room. Jack stepped past Tahu, noticing that the Matoran gasped and stared at him. He stared back for a moment, before looking across a large lake of lava. Mouth agate, he looked to a castle-like fortress across the lake.

Suddenly, there was a sound of rumbling, and portions of a bridge came up that led straight across the lava, and to the fortress across. Jack gaped as Tahu walked past and across the huge bridge. When Tahu stopped half-way and motioned for the stunned Jack to come, the young man stared for a moment, and then cautiously he stepped forward, keeping an eye on the bridge below him, to make sure it wouldn't fall back down to the lava, he was finally able to catch up with Tahu.

Tahu, rolling his eyes, kept walking with his new little visitor following. Jack walked silently behind, slightly numb from shock, though the tingling of coming out of that numbness was starting to take effect as they entered Ta-koro. Jack was amazed at the sight before him. It was like stepping into a sauna! He gasped for air as he walked into the steamy village before him. As he looked around, however, he could see that this was just a natural element for these people. Or…things. However, a lot of them seemed to stop and stare at Jack. He kept his head down, not staring back. He was nervous as Tahu led him straight through a plaza, to a large hut on one side. He looked to Jack and motioned for him to stop. Jack did, and waited as Tahu dashed into the hut.

Jack waited, and he found that his legs begin to shake slightly from being so nervous. This just caused him to get even more nervous as his stomach twisted into knots and a lump formed in his throat. There were too many questions. The past few days had allowed Jack to sort through at least a little of what had happened, but this new village, these things, brought up so many new questions. Where was he? How did he get here, and how was he going to get back?

Finally, Tahu came out from the hut, looking at Jack instantly. "Turaga Vakama would like to speak to you." he said, motioning for Jack to head into the hut. Jack looked to Tahu, and then back to the hut as if Tahu was going to walk in first and tell this Vakama person that Jack isn't feeling to hot. Tahu only stared at him, so Jack nervously stepped through the doorway, ducking his head slightly.

The door was thick, and entered into a large room. On one side was a few personal items, such as furniture and a bed. The side with the door was just a few trinkets, and in the very center was a large, crackling fire. In front of the fire, was another person, if he could be called that, staring deeply into the flames. Assuming that it was this Vakama person, Jack noted that he was a bit taller then the other villagers. He seemed hunched over, though, like he was old. He was leaning on a staff.

Finally, Jack cleared his throat, and Vakama stiffened and turned. The turaga bowed to his visitor and spoke.

"Greetings," he said. His voice was old, which confirmed Jack's suspicion of Vakama's age. Vakam looked up and down Jack, staring. "Hm...strange."

"...sir?" Jack replied cautiously.

"What is your name, boy?" Vakama asked suspiciously.

"J-Jack." he responded.

Vakama nodded. "And do you know your element?"

"My...element?" Jack asked, "I don't understand."

"You are a Toa." Vakama said bluntly, "The Toa on this island—there are six, seven including you apparently—each represent an element. There are six elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Stone, Ice, and Air. However, I am intrigued to find out what [i]your[/i] element is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jack responded truthfully, staring. "And…I have a few questions of my own."

"No doubt that you do." Vakama mumbled. "What do you want to ask?"

"Well, for one:" Jack began, "Where am I? WHAT am I?"

"You are on the island of Mata-Nui." Vakama responded, "I am Turaga Vakama. You are a Toa, as is Tahu outside. The villagers are called Matoran."

Slowly, Vakama began to explain to Jack everything: The Toa's arrival that happened only a few days prior to when Jack arrived. The Toa were heroes, so to speak, who protected the six villages. The Rahi, creatures of the island, were going insane and attacking whoever crossed their path. Jack realized it was like the Prologue of the book he had been reading just before he entered into this place. The ideas were flowing into Jack's head on what caused him to come here. Was it some strange element as Vakama said, or was it something more?

"So, what do I do?" Jack said, "I hope you can tell me, because I don't know."

Vakama sighed. "If it's possible, maybe we can unlock your elemental powers. Try it."

"Try what?" Jack asked. He knew it wasn't that simple, and he did his best to remain skeptical.

"Wave your hand. Try accessing your powers."

Jack sighed, and lifted his now purple hand, and waved it at a trinket on the wall. Nothing happened. The only thing Jack could feel was the air against his hand as he waved it. He then looked to Vakama as if to say, "I Told you so."

Vakama frowned. Though he was still short, he was slightly intimidating to Jack as he turned back to face the fire. He seemed to be deep in thought, though Jack wasn't sure. "…sir?" Jack asked, staring at the small Turaga.

"It is possible…" Vakama began, not bothering to turn, "That your elemental powers will grow with time, rather than be an automatic feature of your…abilities. We will just have to wait and see. If you experience anything unusual, if you will, please contact me immediately."

'Unusual?' Jack thought, 'There's a never-ending list.' It was clear, however, that Vakama was dismissing Jack. With a quick 'thank you,' Jack was out the door, back to meeting Tahu, who was just apparently walking back from where he came from. He looked at Jack with his cold, reddish eyes.

"I've summoned the other Toa to come to the Kini-Nui, where you and I will meet them to discuss your sudden arrival." Tahu said bluntly. Of course, it wasn't a question! It was a demand. Or a command. Either way, it seemed Jack had no choice in the matter. He nodded, and asked Tahu when they would be leaving.

"Now." Tahu responded, again blunt. He turned on his heels, and motioned Jack to follow him. Jack sighed heavily in his head, for fear of Tahu getting angry had he let the air come out of his mouth. He certainly didn't want to travel anymore, especially after travelling for a couple days. Was there no period of rest for these people? Apparently not, it seemed.


	4. PART I, Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jack followed Tahu in a bee-line from the hut of Vakama, straight to the horrific bridge. He nearly ran across the huge thing, he realized, when he got to the end. It put him in a strange sort of panic, being over lava. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but living in Washington, the Evergreen State, has gotten him preferring cold and wet over hot and burning.

When they got over, and Jack was panting ever so slightly, Tahu simply stared in confusion. Jack told him to go on ahead, that he'll catch up. Tahu complied and walked along the ashen path, though soon Jack was walking along side him, still panting ever so slightly, but he tried to control his breathing so he didn't seem so..Weak. It was strange to think that Jack was nervous about seeming weak when in reality he should be worrying about how to get back home. Yet, somehow that was mattering less and less. It seemed to be replaced with curiosity: About this land, these people. (if they could be called people, that is)

The walk was long and boring until finally, Jack had to speak up: "So, what's the deal with this place?"

Tahu stared. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Who, What, Where, When, Why." Jack said irritably, "Who are we going to see? What are you? Where are we going? When will we get there? Why are we going there in the first place?" Giving a glare, Jack responded rudely to Tahu. He figured since Tahu hasn't been very polite, he deserves no less than what he's getting.

"We're going to the Kini-Nui Temple." Tahu responded bluntly, "We're on our way to see the other Toa to discuss your.. situation."

"Would it kill you to have a little emotion?" Jack responded bitterly. He was almost surprised at what he just said; he was never argumentative, but Tahu was getting on his nerves.

Tahu did nothing in response to Jack's outburst but glare, and tighten the grip on his sword, which was resting on his shoulder. Jack smiled in satisfaction at Tahu's anger. They both continued walking before Jack spoke once more.

"So, how far do we have to go?" he asked, a bit calmer now, "How long will it take?"

"About a day." Tahu said, "Maybe two depending on weather."

"Mm." Jack responded. He noticed that the sun was beginning to set; the sky turning a peach orange. He gave a small sigh at the wind that blew through as they were slowly being surrounded by trees on either side – Jack was glad to see they weren't burnt, like the other forest he had most recently been in.

"And – just for the record – I do have emotion." Tahu said flatly, not looking at the figure beside him.

"What?" Jack asked, looking quizzically at the Toa of Fire.

"I'm answering your question." Tahu said, forcibly hiding a smirk.

"Well, you don't act like it." Jack replied, "You're fairly rude, and blunt. The least you could do is showing a little respect—"

WHOOSH!

The golden flame sprang from Tahu's hand, and positioned horizontally across Jack's neck. Jack took a stumbling step back when he felt the too-close heat of the sword at his Adam's apple.

"Let's get one thing straight!" sneered Tahu. He moved swiftly, his sword moving quickly, almost aggressively to Jack, who ducked to miss it. As the sword was switched off, Jack realized the day-light was gone. "Do not pretend you can speak in that way to anyone here. You know nothing of respect: You come from a different world, or so you say. Don't try to assert yourself into a position to scold me or anyone here."

Jack, panting slightly from fear, looked back at Tahu. "Sorry." He muttered. Jack kept walking forward, keeping his face from Tahu; the frightened tears that were threatening to fall. The Toa of Fire sighed and set his sword at its place on his shoulder. Tahu stared at Jack, quickly pushing the guilt that appeared in the back of his head for his outburst.

The two walked on for a couple hours into the night. When a silent yawn came from Jack's mouth, Tahu found a clearing in the forest near Kini-Nui.

"We'll camp here tonight." He said, "I'll keep watch for a couple hours. Then I'll wake you."

"Keep watch?" Jack asked, "For what?"

"Rahi…Did you honestly think this place would be safe? If you did, you're sadly mistaken." Tahu responded.

Jack gave a frightened curse under his breath as he helped start up the fire. When it was lit, Jack sat in front of it, hugging his knees and staring into the orange flames. Tahu patrolled, walking in circles, staring into the shadows of the night. Finally, he turned toward Jack. "You might want to get some sleep."

Jack didn't say anything. Instead he continued staring until it was his time to stand and get ready to patrol. Where it was seemingly only a few minutes, it had been a few hours. Jack wearily stood and began copying what he saw Tahu doing as the red toa lay on the ground. Jack began thinking, disconnecting from the world as he did so, remembering everything that had happened over the past week…has it been a week already!? So it has. Jack sighed with discontent as he continued his walk in the cool night air. Thankfully, it wasn't too cold, only a slight chill, which frankly was kind of nice. Jack sighed as he reached up to touch his face—it was still a mask.

Pssshhh.

Jack turned around, looking in the direction from which the rustle came from. Adrenaline spiked as his heart beat faster.

"Tahu!" he hissed, looking at the snoring Toa. "Tahu!"

Pssshhh!

It was closer. Jack jogged over and shook Tahu, who instinctively gripped his sword and asked what was wrong.

"There's something in the forest!" Jack whispered.

Tahu sat up straight and looked around. "The fire." He whispered.

Jack began kicking dirt into the fire, putting it out quickly. The two stood in silence for a moment, looking at each other, though not seeing hardly anything besides shadows in the dim moonlight. Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting roar. Jack didn't have time to react until he was thrown half-way across the camp.

With a loud thump Jack landed in the dirt. He grunted and sat up, a pain in his back causing a soreness to sweep all over him. He saw Tahu's sword light up orange and glow as he swung it around trying to hit whatever was attacking. It seemed to be a bull of some sort creature. It lurched up and dived at Tahu, who rolled away. Unfortunately, the creature caught him with it's claw, and threw him across the clearing, past Jack.

"No!" Jack shouted, about to jump to help Tahu. However, there was a loud roar, and Jack froze in place. He turned only his head to see the creature staring at him, hunching down about to pounce. With another deafening roar, the bull jumped forward, galloping at Jack, before leaping high into the air, extending his claws.

With a scream, Jack whipped up his hands to somewhat protect himself. He immediately closed his eyes tight, waiting for the attack that never came. The only thing Jack could register was a strange tingling feeling in his extended hands. Every so often there was pressure on arbitrary points on his palm and fingers.

Jack cautiously opened his eyes to see the struggling creature floating in the air in front of him. Tahu was standing behind him, his sword now igniting sending an orange glow to show Jack what was happening. Jack stared, wide-eyed. He moved his hands, which sent a small breeze through his fingers. The bull floated with it. Jack began to panic slightly and shoved his hands the opposite way, sending the creature flying to the right, squealing as it hit the ground and scampering away.

"What…just happened?" Jack asked, panting.

"I think…you just found your element." Tahu responded. He looked over to see the sun just beginning to rise. "Come on, we're almost there."

Jack stood and began to follow Tahu to a path on the opposite side of the clearing.


	5. PART I, Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Tahu and Jack were a few miles down the path, and Jack still had a hard time accepting just what had happened in the clearing with the rahi, Jack had stared at his hands, remembering the strange sensation that had ran through his hands.

'Telekinesis..' he thought silently to himself. An element? He thought it over…Telekinesis wasn't an element like fire or water. Was it even an element, he wondered.

"Have you tried practicing your power?" Tahu asked, not looking back to who he was talking to.

"No.." Jack said, "Should I? I mean…us it really that simple?"

"I should think so. Practice makes perfect after all." Tahu responded, lifting a finger as-matter-of-factly like a high school teacher would. Jack sighed, and scratched his head, looking at the ground as he walked. After a minute, he looked around. When there was a stump in their path, Tahu motioned for him and asked him to try moving the stump like he had with the Rahi. Jack nodded and reached his hands forward. He stared at the log, and waved his hand at it. Nothing. Jack sighed.

"It's not working." Jack said, looking at Tahu, and then back to the log. Tahu gave a thoughtful 'Hmm..' Then, with a sudden ferocity, Tahu pulled out his sword, ignited it and screamed at Jack, swinging downward as he did so.

Jack shouted loudly, instinctively throwing his hands up. There was a small breeze that felt like it blew only past his hands, and Tahu's sword went flying out of his hands and into the woods behind the Toa. Tahu stopped in his place, putting his hands down, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Your power is triggered by fear." He said, still smirking. "Keep practicing... Try getting scared." He said, turning around to grab his sword; Jack sighed with relief and scratched his head again. Stepping over the log, Jack kept walking though soon enough Tahu was passing him with his long strides. Jack ran through his mind the feeling once more, remembering. It felt good to use it, powerful, as well it brought on a sort of calm as if using the power released the fear that triggered it.

The rest of the way was completely uneventful; Jack found himself wishing for some music to listen to more than once. Finally, around the early afternoon however, they arrived at the place called Kini-Nui. The Temple was a large circular platform with six pillars, and a staircase set in between each of those pillars leading to the top of the platform. In the center of the Temple was a rounded dome-like structure, called a Suva. Turning to look at the new arrivals was who Jack assumed to be the other Toa. One, Lewa, he recognized. The other four were un-familiar. One was white, and going around the Suva, one black, blue, green, and brown.

"Gali," Tahu said, addressing the blue Toa, "How is Ga-koro? Anymore Rahi attacks?"

"The Ga-Matoran are fine," Gali said. (By her voice, Jack could tell she was female) "No more attacks recently, thank goodness. However, a Ta-Matoran seemed to have saved them from a sunken hut only a few moments before I arrived."

Tahu looked at her, seeming to forget Jack's presence. "A Ta-Matoran?" he asked, "Interesting.. And Onua, how is the passage to Le-Wahi coming for your miners?"

"It's going well." Onua, the black one, said in a fairly deep voice. Jack noticed it was apparent that Tahu wasn't exactly excited to talk about his new arrival.

"Fire-brother," spoke up Lewa, looking over to Jack, "Perhaps you should explain to us what went-happened in your fire-village with our new little ally-friend."

"Mm." Tahu responded, looking at Jack as well. He motioned for him to come up to the Suva with him, and Jack followed. The two walked up to the Suva, Tahu leaned on it and looked at his fellow Toa. "Since we left Le-Wahi, we went to Vakama. Jack can probably tell you what he said."

Jack shot a look to Tahu, and then cleared his throat. "Well, he asked what my element was…"

"—which we now know is Telekinesis." Tahu added quickly.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, and then he didn't say much more beyond that, just gave me basic information as to where I am…"

'Which I am still not sure of.' Jack added in his mind. As he looked around he saw the other toa were thinking.

"Telekinesis?" Gali asked, "That isn't an element.. is it?" Apparently, she was speaking more to herself then anyone else. It seemed she was somewhat the leader of this group, though Tahu seemed to be more assertive in that role. Jack shrugged, "I hardly even know what to do. I mean… I can't really control it."

"His power is triggered by spikes of emotion." Tahu explained, "Mainly fear, I've noted."

'You've _noted?_' Jack thought rudely in his head. However, he kept his mouth shut and looked as the other toa debated.

"I think we should train-teach him." Lewa said, crossing his arms. "If he is a Toa-hero as he appear-looks then should he not be ready-prepared as we are?"

Gali nodded. "Despite his…mysterious arrival, I think we should train him. He is, after all, a Toa."

There was a slight pause in the conversation, where the white Toa—Kopaka—spoke up for the first time.

"How did you get here?" his voice was sharp and cold, thought not unkind. Jack looked at Kopaka's ice-blue eyes, almost entranced before he was able to look back to the others.

"Well…I don't really know." Jack almost mumbled. "One minute I was in my house, looking at a book, and as I read something.. Happened with the walls and the next thing I knew I was falling in a forest, which is where Lewa saved me."

Lewa beamed at Jack, whose head was bowed. Recalling the fact that he was in a whole new world reminded Jack that right now, he had no way of getting home. His fists clenched a mixture of despair and anger welling up inside him. Jack stepped away for a minute, as he inhaled deeply, and quickly, regaining his composure.

"Well.." the brown toa spoke up. "We should probably get started then."

Jack looked up at the brown Toa—Pohatu—who spoke. His voice was kind, friendly. Jack's liking of him was nearly instant. It was probably what would've happened with Lewa had Jack not been so frightened at the time.

"I could take him to Po-Wahi. There's plenty of open space there. It may be a little hot, but still.." Pohatu said, exchanging glances with each of his fellow toa. They nodded silently in agreement.

"Although," Gali said, "I think we should discuss certain things at hand."

She gave a glance to Jack, which basically said it was about him. Jack looked to Pohatu, and then to the other five Toa. They seemed to agree with Gali, though Pohatu soon suggested that he and Jack could go to Po-Wahi while the other five stay behind and talk about the things they weren't so keen on mentioning.

"I like that idea.." Jack said tentatively. Part of him wanted to stay, though it was apparent they needed to sort things out themselves. Another part, though, wanted to go with Pohatu, which is the part that Jack decided to succumb to.

The other Toa exchanged glances once again, and they agreed. Jack sighed slightly with relief. Pohatu gave a small smile and motioned for him to follow. Jack nodded and went around the other Toa; Jack could feel their eyes following him. Saying nothing, Jack followed Pohatu down the steps and to the North.


End file.
